The Eqyptians then were not, by and large, as concerned as we are today about mummies coming back to life. But there was one mummy of one pharaoh that the sources all show greatly concerned the ancient Egyptians. That pharaoh was Ahagotsu, the clown-king of Egypt.

The ancient Egyptians buried their pharaoh with all that they thought he would need in his life after death. They buried warrior Pharaohs with chariots and spears, for instance. They buried their pharaohs with food and gold, and in some cases with mummified servants to attend the kings in the afterlife. The records of the building of the tomb of Ahagotsu show that he was buried with large, messy, cream-covered pastries, with hollow, bladder-like cushions that emitted an embarrassing sound when sat upon, and with other such odd, unkingly things.

For reasons not entirely clear in the chronicles, though I suspect they were as worried about the future of Egyptian humor as we were about our own, the priests and people of ancient Egypt were very concerned that Ahagotsu never return to the land of the living. At the conclusion done of the accounts of the pharaoh's reign, a scribe had written:

"Should the body of Ahagotsu ever again walk the banks of the river Nile, take heart, for there is a remedy. Deep in the pharaoh's own tomb we have placed a scarab made of charmed sardonyx. Place that scarab on the body of Ahagotsu's mummy, and he will give you no problem."